ARC Raiders Workshop Upgrade Items: All 6 Stations (2026)

ARC Raiders workshop upgrade items are the actual bottleneck on how fast your account gets stronger, not vendor credits, not skill points. Seven stations sit inside Speranza's Workshop, and six of them take a specific, non-negotiable list of materials to push from Level 1 to Level 3. Get the order wrong and you're farming Metal Parts for a station that isn't gating anything useful yet.

TL;DR: The Workshop has 7 stations: a free Workbench plus six upgradeable benches (Gunsmith, Gear Bench, Medical Lab, Explosives Station, Utility Station, Refiner), each capping at Level 3 across roughly 40 distinct materials. The Refiner should go first: it produces the processed components every other station's Level 2 and 3 tiers require. Workshop levels reset to zero if you complete an Expedition, so know that trade-off before you max out a station right before choosing to prestige.

What Are ARC Raiders Workshop Upgrade Items? (Quick Answer)

Workshop upgrade items are the specific materials (Metal Parts, Fabric, ARC Alloy, and dozens of ARC machine drop components) that each of the six upgradeable Workshop stations consumes to advance from Level 1 to Level 3. Every station has its own separate material list. There's no shared currency: leveling the Gunsmith does nothing for the Medical Lab, and vice versa.

Key Takeaways

• 7 stations total: Workbench (free, caps at Level 1) plus 6 upgradeable stations that cap at Level 3
• Roughly 40 distinct materials feed the full Workshop, cross-checked against two independent sources with matching Level 1-3 costs for every station
• The Refiner comes first: it converts raw scrap into the Mechanical Components, Electrical Components, and Advanced variants every other station's higher tiers need
• Machine-drop materials gate Level 3: Sentinel Firing Core, Bastion Cell, Rocketeer Driver, and Leaper Pulse Unit only come from killing the matching ARC machine type
• Expedition resets wipe Workshop levels: completing an Expedition sets every station back to zero in exchange for permanent account bonuses
• No partial deposits: the game requires the full material count in your stash before it lets you commit to an upgrade, a top community complaint on r/ArcRaiders

Overview: The Workshop vs. Vendor Crafting

Speranza runs two crafting systems that read as one from a distance but function separately. The ARC Raiders crafting guide covers vendor relationship leveling, Tian Wen, Celeste, Apollo, Shani, and Lance, which gates specific weapon and gear recipes behind how much you've sold or completed contracts with that vendor. This guide covers the other half: the Workshop's own station levels, which gate what tier of item you're physically able to build at all, independent of any vendor's opinion of you.

Think of it as two locks on the same door. Vendor relationship unlocks the blueprint. Workshop station level unlocks the bench that can actually build it. A Rare-tier recipe from a Red zone blueprint is still uncraftable if your Gunsmith is sitting at Level 1.

The Workbench is the one exception: it's handed to you for free after your first completed run and never needs upgrading; it caps at Level 1 permanently and covers basic weapon and ammunition recipes. Everything past that, Gunsmith, Gear Bench, Medical Lab, Explosives Station, Utility Station, and Refiner, has to be built and leveled with materials.

Step-by-Step: Every Workshop Upgrade Item by Station

These costs are cross-verified against two independently maintained sources (a dedicated ARC Raiders wiki and a guide site) whose Level 1 through Level 3 numbers matched exactly, station by station, item by item. Nothing here is estimated or inferred.

Gunsmith (weapons and weapon mods)

Wasp Driver and Sentinel Firing Core are machine drops, from Wasps and Sentinels respectively, not container loot. The ARC Raiders machine types guide covers exactly where each unit spawns and how to kill it efficiently.

Gear Bench (armor, shields, augments)

Medical Lab (healing items and stims)

Explosives Station (grenades and mines)

Utility Station (gadgets and support tools)

Refiner (processes raw scrap into advanced components)

Notice the pattern across all six stations. Level 1 is a flat quantity of Common materials (Metal Parts, Fabric, Plastic Parts, ARC Alloy, Chemicals). Level 2 introduces mid-tier processed components. Level 3 always demands a machine-specific drop: Wasp Driver, Hornet Driver, Sentinel Firing Core, Rocketeer Driver, Leaper Pulse Unit, or a Refiner-exclusive item like Bombardier Cell. Containers won't get you through Level 3. You need specific kills, and that's the real reason it takes so much longer than Level 1 or 2.

Which Workshop Station to Upgrade First

Start with the Refiner. Its Level 1 recipe output, Mechanical Components and Electrical Components, feeds directly into Gunsmith Level 2, Gear Bench Level 2, and Utility Station Level 2. Skip it and you'll hit a wall the moment any other station wants a processed component you have no way to produce.

After Refiner Level 1, split attention between Gear Bench and Medical Lab. Both have cheap Level 1 costs (25-50 Common materials, no machine drops required) and both directly improve run survivability: Gear Bench gets you into craftable armor and shields, Medical Lab gets you healing items that don't cost vendor credits. Gunsmith is worth delaying slightly if you already have a strong crafted weapon from vendor recipes; its Level 2 and 3 tiers matter more for weapon variety than raw survivability.

Explosives Station and Utility Station are the lowest priority for solo play. Grenades and gadgets matter more once you're running squad content or leaning on a specific loadout archetype. If you're playing support in a squad, move Utility Station up the list; its Level 2 unlocks the Snitch Scanner-based recipes that most benefit a scouting role.

A crafted sidearm is only as good as the station that built it. Gunsmith priority matters most for players who are still relying on vendor-bought weapons in close-quarters fights like this one.

GODEEPER: Vendor relationship leveling runs on a separate track from Workshop stations, and getting both right in the right order matters. ARC Raiders Crafting Guide: Workbenches, Recipes, Materials →

Where the Hardest Workshop Materials Actually Drop

The Level 1 and Level 2 materials, Metal Parts, Rubber Parts, Fabric, Plastic Parts, Electrical Components, come from recycling everyday loot: household electronics, tools, damaged gear, and soft equipment like goggles or riot armor. Any White or Orange zone run produces a steady trickle of these. The ARC Raiders loot guide breaks down exactly what to recycle versus sell versus keep on a session-by-session basis, which matters here because over-selling the wrong Common material is the single most common way players stall their own Workshop progress.

Level 3 materials are a different problem entirely. Sentinel Firing Core, Bastion Cell, Rocketeer Driver, and Leaper Pulse Unit don't drop from containers at all. They only come from killing the matching ARC machine type. That means the Gunsmith's Level 3 requirement (4 Sentinel Firing Cores) forces you into Orange and Red zone Sentinel encounters. "Play more raids" won't cut it. If you've been avoiding Sentinels because of their elevated sniping range, Gunsmith Level 3 is the reason to stop.

Two real pain points show up repeatedly on r/ArcRaiders that don't get mentioned in most station-cost lists:

You can't partially deposit materials. A well-upvoted request thread on the subreddit asks Embark to let players commit items to a Workshop upgrade as they collect them, rather than requiring the full quantity in stash first. As of the current build, that's still not how it works: if a station needs 8x Wasp Driver, you're holding all 8 in your stash simultaneously before the upgrade button does anything, which eats inventory space during the exact stretch of the game where stash space is already tight.

Recycle-versus-craft material descriptions aren't always clear. A separate community thread flagged that some in-game item tooltips fail to state that a material is needed for a specific Workshop or crafting recipe, leading players to recycle materials they actually needed to keep. If you're unsure whether something feeds a Workshop tier, check this guide's tables before recycling anything that looks remotely mechanical or electronic.

Machine-drop materials only come from White and Orange zone encounters like this one. Container loot alone won't clear a Level 3 Workshop requirement.

The Expedition Reset: What Happens to Your Workshop Levels

This is the detail most Workshop material lists skip entirely, and it changes how you should think about the grind. ARC Raiders' Expeditions are the game's optional prestige system: once your account is eligible, you can choose to complete an Expedition in exchange for permanent account-wide bonuses like extra XP gain and cheaper repair costs. The catch is that completing one resets your Workshop station levels, stash, and skill tree back to zero. You rebuild from Level 1 on every station afterward.

This isn't a punishment mechanic so much as the game's version of a prestige loop, but it's a genuinely consequential trade-off that a pure materials checklist won't tell you: if you're close to an Expedition decision, dumping another 40+ hours into maxing Gunsmith to Level 3 the week before you reset is largely wasted effort. Time it so your Workshop grind lines up with where you are on the Expedition decision, not against it.

GODEEPER: What Expeditions actually grant, how they interact with Trials rank, and whether resetting is worth it at your current progress. ARC Raiders Endgame Guide: Trials, Expeditions & Season 4 →

Tips

Track Refiner output, not just Refiner level. Once Refiner hits Level 2, its ARC Motion Core and Fireball Burner byproducts become the bottleneck for Utility Station Level 3 and Refiner's own Level 3. Don't sell these to a vendor the moment you get them; they're rarer than the Common materials and disappear fast if you're not deliberately banking them.

Match your Workshop priority to your playstyle, not a universal order. Refiner first is correct for almost everyone, but a player who dies constantly to Sentinels should lean into Gunsmith and its armor-penetration recipes before chasing Explosives Station, while a squad support player gets more value flipping Utility Station ahead of Gear Bench.

Don't recycle anything with a machine-type name in the description without checking this guide first. Wasp Driver, Hornet Driver, Sentinel Firing Core, Rocketeer Driver, Bastion Cell, and Leaper Pulse Unit all feed Level 3 Workshop recipes specifically. These are the materials most likely to get accidentally sold off before a player realizes what they're for.

Bank Level 3 machine drops even before you've hit Level 2 on that station. Sentinel Firing Cores, for example, only drop from a machine type most players are actively avoiding early on. If you happen to get one from an unrelated fight, keep it. You'll need 4 eventually, and Sentinels aren't a guaranteed drop every encounter.

Common Mistakes

Maxing one station to Level 3 before starting Level 1 on the others. Because Level 3 requires machine-specific farming, players who tunnel-vision on one station often ignore cheap Level 1 unlocks on every other bench that would have improved their runs immediately. Spread early materials across all six stations' Level 1 tier before pushing any single one to Level 2 or 3.

Selling Fabric and ARC Alloy for vendor credits. Both feed multiple stations at Level 1 (Gear Bench, Medical Lab, Explosives Station, Utility Station all need one or both). They're Common-tier and feel disposable, but they're consumed in higher quantities across more recipes than almost anything else on this list.

Assuming Workshop station level and vendor relationship level are the same progress bar. They're not. Reaching a high vendor relationship with Tian Wen does not raise your Gunsmith station level, and vice versa. Both gate different halves of what you can craft.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Workshop in ARC Raiders? The Workshop is Speranza's on-site crafting hub: seven stations, the free Workbench plus six specialized benches, that unlock weapon, armor, medical, explosive, gadget, and refined-material recipes. The Workbench is available from your first run. Every other station is built and leveled with materials pulled from raids, not credits.

How many Workshop stations are there in ARC Raiders? Seven total: the free Workbench, plus six upgradeable stations, Gunsmith, Gear Bench, Medical Lab, Explosives Station, Utility Station, and Refiner. Each of the six caps at Level 3 and unlocks new recipes at every tier. Confirmed against the live build as of Update 1.40.0, August 4, 2026.

Do Workshop upgrades reset in ARC Raiders? Yes, when you choose to complete an Expedition. Resetting wipes Workshop station levels, your stash, and skill tree back to zero in exchange for permanent account bonuses like extra XP and cheaper repairs. It's optional. Nothing forces a reset on a fixed timer.

Which Workshop station should I upgrade first? The Refiner. It converts raw scrap into Mechanical Components, Electrical Components, and other processed materials that every other station's Level 2 and Level 3 tiers depend on. Gear Bench and Medical Lab Level 1 are the next priority for early survivability.

What does Gunsmith Level 3 need in ARC Raiders? 3 Rusted Gear, 5 Advanced Mechanical Components, and 4 Sentinel Firing Cores, the last of which only drops from Sentinel-type ARC machines. It's the single hardest Level 3 requirement in the Workshop because Sentinel Firing Cores have no alternate farming route.

Can you deposit partial materials toward a Workshop upgrade? No. As of the current build, you need the full material count sitting in your stash before the game lets you commit it to a station upgrade, a frequently requested fix on the ARC Raiders subreddit. Partial items just take up stash space until the set is complete.

Is ARC Raiders still in Early Access? No. ARC Raiders left early access and fully launched October 30, 2025 at $39.99 on Steam, Epic Games Store, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. It now runs as a live-service game with numbered content Seasons and optional Expedition resets.

Related Reading

• ARC Raiders Anti-Cheat: Kernel-Level Testing Begins: ARC Raiders anti-cheat testing begins with kernel-level detection, targeting cheats that EAC alone can't catch.
• ARC Raiders Vendor Leveling Guide: Fastest Route 2026: Which vendor to level first and why it compounds with Workshop material farming.
• ARC Raiders Other Raiders: Survive Player Encounters: ARC Raiders other Raiders guide: how to avoid, outmaneuver, and survive contested extractions. Extraction types
• ARC Raiders Currency and Progression Guide: How credits and vendor XP persist differently than Workshop materials do.
• ARC Raiders Augments Guide: Best Frames Ranked 2026: ARC Raiders augments guide: Combat, Looting, and Tactical frames explained, the best Mark III picks,

References

• ARC Raiders on Steam: official store page, current patch notes, and system requirements
• ARC Raiders Official Site: Embark Studios' developer page with Speranza and Workshop documentation
• ARC Raiders Workshop Wiki: dedicated wiki entry with per-station upgrade material tables, cross-checked against this guide
• ARC Raiders Official Launch Trailer: Embark Studios' official launch trailer showing Speranza and early raid gameplay
• r/ArcRaiders: official community subreddit, source for the partial-deposit and material-labeling complaints referenced above